LITTLE FERRY, NJ.., September, 1998 -- The SETI League, Inc., non-profit leaders in a privatized Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI), announces its affiliation with a leading Amateur Radio technical organization, the Central States VHF Society. Plans were formalized at the annual Central States VHF Conference this summer for each of the two organizations to join the other as a Member Society.

Founded in 1966, the Central States VHF Society provides a forum for technical advancement within the Amateur Radio community. Society members have been responsible for developing many of the technological innovations in microwave communications which make modern SETI possible. The SETI League was founded in 1993 to help privatize the scientific search for life in space. The two organizations each have several hundred members.

"It's a logical affiliation," notes Gerald Handley, the VHF Society's board chairman. "Many of our members, including myself, also belong to The SETI League, and in fact the SETI League's chief scientist is a longtime VHF Society member. We hope to collaborate in applying the very latest in radio technique to the challenge of interstellar communications." SETI League executive director Dr. H. Paul Shuch, who has served two terms on the Central States VHF Society board, received the John Chambers Memorial Award, the Society's highest technical honor, in 1993. Dr. Shuch has been a regular speaker at the Society's annual technical Conference for the past fifteen years.

To better serve the interests of its worldwide membership base, The SETI League routinely collaborates with like-minded educational and scientific organizations. Other official SETI League affiliates include the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), Artemis Society, Harvard Wireless Club, Explorer Post 424, and the McMaster
University branch of Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS).

SETI scientists seek to determine through microwave and optical measurements whether humankind is alone in the universe. Since Congress terminated NASA's SETI funding in 1993, The SETI League and other scientific groups have been attempting to privatize the research. Experimenters interested in participating in the search for intelligent alien life, or citizens wishing to help support it, should email to join_at_setileague_dot_org, check the SETI League Web site at http://www.setileague.org/, send a fax to +1 (201) 641-1771, or contact The SETI League, Inc. membership hotline at +1 (800) TAU-SETI. Be sure to provide us with a postal address to which we will mail further information. The SETI League, Inc. is a membership-supported, non-profit [501(c)(3)], educational and scientific corporation dedicated to the electromagnetic Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence.